Mound repair and foraging polyethism in workers ofNasutitermes exitiosus (Hill): (Isoptera: Termitidae)

McMahan, Elizabeth A.

doi:10.1007/bf02227173

Cited by 26 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 2 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The red-marked builders switched tasks, but as was seen for their blue-marked siblings, they did so slowly, at a rate of about two workers per day for both experiments. There was evidence that larger and smaller workers responded differently: fewer small workers became builders than large workers, an observation also made by McMahan (1977). Smaller workers were recaptured less frequently and were decreasingly represented in drums as foragers over time.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 79%

Foraging and building in subterranean termites: task switchers or reserve labourers?

Evans

2006

Insect. Soc.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Task-switching between foraging and building in workers of Nasutitermes exitiosus (Termitidae), a subterranean termite, was followed using mark-recapture. Foragers were collected from wood-fi lled drums and marked with Nile blue (ca. 12,500 per colony), whereas builders were collected from damaged sections of mounds and marked with Neutral red (ca. 18,500 per colony). Two protocols were followed: the fi rst marked foragers and then damaged the mound; the second reversed this order. In the fi rst protocol few foragers switched to building, i.e. blue-marked workers in mound samples, measured either as numbers (81 ± 28) or proportion of originally marked (0.66 ± 0.20 %); whereas more than double blue-marked foragers remained foraging (222 ± 64 workers or 1.76 ± 0.44 %). In the second protocol few builders had switched to foraging, i.e. red-marked workers found in the fi rst drum sample (82 ± 33 workers or 0.29 ± 0.09 %). Up to eight drums were sampled for foragers over about 80 days; the numbers of blue-marked workers decreased slowly (ca. 1.6 workers per day) whereas those of red-marked workers increased slowly (ca. 2.4 workers per day). These results suggest that relatively few termite workers switch directly between foraging and building. The possibility of builders being recruited from other tasks is discussed.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 79%

Foraging and building in subterranean termites: task switchers or reserve labourers?

Evans

2006

Insect. Soc.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…To investigate this possibility, it would be necessary to mark workers. Since major workers are older than medium and minor workers (Miura and Matsumoto, 1995), the fact that major workers actively forage outside the nest, i.e., age polyethism, is similar to the phenomenon seen in some ants and other termites (Pasteels, 1965;McMahan, 1977;Watson and McMahan, 1978;Tsuji, 1992).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, none of the above studies focused on caste ratio in the foraging population. Behavioral differences among castes (instars) was reported for Nasutitermes extiosus (McMahan, 1977) and Drepanotermes (Watson and McMahan, 1978). In the case of some Nasutitermes species these differences were explained as temporal polyethism (Pasteels, 1965;McMahan, 1979).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Foraging organization of the open-air processional lichenfeeding termite Hospitalitermes (Isoptera, Termitidae) in Borneo

Miura¹,

Matsumoto²

1998

Insectes Sociaux

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The temporal dynamics and social interaction in the foraging activities of the open-air processional termite Hospitalitermes (Termitidae, Nasutitermitinae) were studied in Borneo, Southeast Asia. H. medioflavus and H. sp.A tended to forage from evening to the next morning. On average foraging activity occurred every 3.2 days. Some synchronization of foraging events among colonies was observed, which appeared to be caused by rainfall levels.Temporal dynamics during foraging activity was observed in detail using a photographic method for two species; H. medioflavus and H. rufus. Roughly 300,000 to 500,000 individuals participated in a single foraging event in both species. The soldier ratio was highest at the beginning and the end of the activity. Temporal patterns of behavior were different between soldier, major worker, medium worker and minor worker during foraging. The patterns of behavior are consistent with their tasks in the foraging activity. Soldiers lead the foraging column and protect it, major workers act as food carriers in the earlier stage while medium workers become the dominant food ball carriers in the later stage, and minor workers play the role of gnawers. Therefore, caste composition changes during foraging activity. Similar behavioral tendencies were recognized in both species. Measurement of workers' body weights revealed that workers not only carry balls of food from foraging sites but also feed directly at the foraging sites.

show abstract

“…Temporal worker polyethism is known in different termite species. In Nasutitermes costalis and N. exitiosus nest construction is predominantly performed by older workers (McMahan, 1970(McMahan, , 1977. Also, in Reticulitermes lucifugus workers changed to perform outside activities including construction or exploration with increasing age (Garnier-Sillam, 1983).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Age related polyethism and activity rhythms in the nest of the termite Macrotermes bellicosus (Isoptera, Termitidae)

Hinze¹,

Leuthold²

1999

Insectes Sociaux

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Age polyethism and total activity of M. bellicosus were investigated by using a newly developed marking method in combination with metal and photo detectors. Running activity to and from the queen cell and through the nest exit into a food arena were measured. With increasing age the workers change from the care of the queen to foraging activity. This change of activity from tasks inside the nest to tasks outside the nest took place between day 13 and 25 after adult moult for major and between day 9 and 32 after adult moult for minor workers. The overall activity to the foraging arena revealed a clear 24-h rhythm, with the highest activity in the evening at 20:00 h and the lowest activity in the morning at 7:00 h.

show abstract

Mound repair and foraging polyethism in workers ofNasutitermes exitiosus (Hill): (Isoptera: Termitidae)

Cited by 26 publications

References 2 publications

Foraging and building in subterranean termites: task switchers or reserve labourers?

Foraging and building in subterranean termites: task switchers or reserve labourers?

Foraging organization of the open-air processional lichenfeeding termite Hospitalitermes (Isoptera, Termitidae) in Borneo

Age related polyethism and activity rhythms in the nest of the termite Macrotermes bellicosus (Isoptera, Termitidae)

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About